Sanity
by MissScaryKitty
Summary: After a riot breaks out in Arkham, Selina Kyle 'Catwoman' uses this oppertunity to sneak in and obtain information she needs for a heist. What happens when she gets caught? Characters: CW, Joker, Harvey, Crane, Edward, Bruce Based on Arkham Asylum: SHOSE


Disclaimer: I own nothing

AN: This takes place after the events of Arkham Asylum Serious House on a Serious Earth. You do not need to read the book to get this but if some of you are seeing similarities this is why. Also the Riddler is my own take of the character since we don't know how he's going to be in hopefully future films. I pulled some info from the book 'Joker' for his character. So read and hopefully enjoy. Gives some background on catwoman's past as well (both taken from the comics and of my own devising). Also if you all can be kind and review I'd be really happy.

The cheap tungsten light bulbs in the motel room bathroom had cast a dim yellow glow across the bedroom floor and dissipated into the shadows. Selina stood in front of the dirty mirror next to the dusky pink porcelain toilet and watched herself intently as she slipped on her cat mask. One moment she was Selina Kyle, then the next she was Catwoman. To her, the transformation was almost unreal at times.

She flipped on the light switch in the main room and sauntered over to the bed. Miss Kitty, her cat, was sitting on it poised and waiting for her. Careful not to scratch her beloved companion she ran her hand atop its head and down its back in a loving stroke. Her other hand reached out for the long oiled bullwhip she had tossed on the mattress earlier. Wrapping her fingers around it she effortlessly twisted the slick length of woven leather around her waist and clasped it on with a large buckle. Her feline friend rubbed its head against her stomach in a demand for more petting. Selina smirked and complied.

"Good Miss Kitty. Mommy will be back soon." She cooed after one final caress and leaving the bedside. Stopping in front of the nightstand she opened the small drawer, pushed aside the hotel Bible and took out the small handgun she had bought that night. She then grabbed the makeshift holster she had designed for herself and strapped the gun to her thigh with a firm tug of the black leather strap in silver buckle. She never carried guns but it would be her first time stepping into Arkham and she didn't want any trouble, especially for something this important.

There was a tight police perimeter around the whole asylum, the riot that had taken place a few hours earlier had barely been quelled before she got there. it took Selina some time but she finally found a weak spot in their formation that she could slip through. She was just about to make her move when a large hand wrapped around her upper arm and yanked her backwards with such force that she tumbled into a backwards summersault then landed onto her hands and knees.

"What are you doing here?" A gravelly voice barked at her. Selina blinked in shock realizing that she was now on the ground. Quickly recovering, she angrily whipped her head up to glair into the eyes of Batman. Not caring that he could have hurt the woman he repeated his question,

"What are you doing here?"

"Making my weekly visit, you?" She snapped, hopping to her feet with ease. This time Selina did not miss a beat. Her shocking green eyes trained themselves on him. Batman stood completely grounded in front of her without expression. Selina knew that if she wasn't careful he'd take her in and all of her planning would have been meaningless. As she observed him she started to relax. He was tired and her presence was making him emotionally weaker. She knew he pretended not to care for her anymore. He treated her like dirt and was far too rough on her at times, even if he was just doing his job. It was obvious that what he held for her was personal and completely unprofessional as far as criminals went. The whole of their relationship was unprofessional. From the start there was something there between them that just clicked. She liked him; first as a play toy, and then for something a bit more. Even though he wouldn't admit it he thought of her as the same. However she knew that it was over between the two of them. He found out who she really was. Now he couldn't seem to forgive her. They had been dating in her real life as Selina Kyle. After he discovered her identity it was all over. He didn't trust her and she knew she deserved more than the little respect he was giving her at the moment. Needless to say, when the fire between them was almost dead she still felt _something_ for him.

Bruce watched her through tired eyes finally he answered her previous question,

"I was asked to come down here by the Joker, he wanted to trade his hostages for me ... but you already know that."

Selina grinned slyly and nodded,

"Yes I suppose I do. You look sleepy Bruce. Get some rest." With that she began to nonchalantly walk past him. However Bruce stepped in front of her path.

"What are you going to do Selina?" He pushed trying to stay strong. Whatever had happened in there really took a lot out of him, she thought.

"I'm going to let out all the inmates. Come _on_ Bruce, I'm good but I'm not _that_ good. The police have the place surrounded, there's nothing I can do to screw up your work. Just please let me go, this will only take an hour or so."

Batman grumbled out an answer,

"No. I can't trust you on this one Selina."

"What am I going to have to do to prove myself to you Bruce? Fine," with that Selina roundhouse kicked him in the temple. Bruce fell to the ground unconscious. "Like I said Bat's, take a rest."

She entered the asylum from the doors that led down to the cellar. To get past the police unnoticed she had to wait for the end of a lightning flash in order to crack open the double doors and slip through. Once inside the narrow stairwell, Selina was surrounded by complete darkness. She had no flashlight; there was not even a hint of light to help guide her. Suddenly there was a slight flickering above her and a steady stream of light filtered into the stairwell from a broken patch in the ceiling above her. All the lights in the whole house must have gone out after the last flash of lightning and recovered only just then. However there were still no lights on in the basement. From the rays of light that illuminated the small spot she was standing in, she could see that the wood steps she was standing on were old and rotted. Shifting her weight as she stuck her foot out to start her decent into the cellar, there was a loud creak from the old step. Selina quickly adjusted herself so she was evenly balanced between the two stairs. Going down any father would be too dangerous. Although Selina was surefooted she knew when to quit a losing battle. Using her claws she gripped onto the edges of the gap in the ceiling above her and started tearing at it. A few strong yanks at the weak wood and plaster, then the hole was made just big enough for her to climb through.

Once she squeezed through the small gap, Selina found herself sitting on the floor of the first story. Next to her was an old grandfather clock that stood against a wall with peeling green fabric paneling. Looking around her she noticed she was in a makeshift lobby. The only thing to distinguish it from an entryway to a house was a cheap metal desk in the corner opposite her. Lightning flashed again casting a white light around the huge entryway. Something walking up the stairs had caught her eye just then.

"Joker!" She called out to the towering, slender figure on the stairs.

The man, if you could call it that, slowly turned around. He regarded her with a yellow toothed sneer and a raised green eyebrow.

"Yessssss?" He answered, faking a tone of coyness as he slinked down the stairs to meet her. Selina's presence must have sparked his curiosity or else he wouldn't have bothered with her.

"Do you know where Harvey Dent is?" She asked getting up off of the floor. The Joker's sneer morphed into a huge smile.

"Ah, so has Juliet come to make a jail bird of her Romeo?" He taunted as he meanly poked at her with his claw like fingernail. Selina tried to avoid this unnecessary touching that was near knocking her backwards into the hole she had just crawled out of.

"Stop it!" She finally snapped as she angrily slapped his hand away.

"Why are you so offended?" He laughed now putting his hands on his hips. "Plenty of people have fetishes _pussy_, I must say I have a few myself."

"You're sick." She growled. The Joker threw his head back and laughed,

"I can't help but say the same for you."

Selina rolled her eyes in annoyance, "We're not lovers Joker. He has some information I need. Unfortunately he was an idiot and got locked up here again."

Selina would not volunteer what information she needed in case the Joker would want in on the deal. So she said nothing more on the matter and decided to change the subject,

"Are you going to tell me where he is?" she asked impatiently.

"Old Harvs could be anywhere pussy. Maybe you should have set up a little meeting place before you decided to just burst in on us unannounced."

Selina strategically moved away from the clown.

"What good would that do? Dent wouldn't listen to me even if I tried; he only ever listens to that stupid coin." She grumbled in frustration; her eyes narrowing as she avoided looking at the hideous man in front of her. It was clear the two had problems of communication in the past. Frankly she was sick of always working through the mob boss when there was a big score involved. The Joker's twisted grin doubled in size as he planted himself firmly in front of her, the black shoes he wore slapped against the wood floor as he did so.

"Oh did the inanimate object get between you and the manic lawyer?" He teased, craning his head to the side so that he could look her in the eye, "That explains why you never visit."

Selina stubbornly turned her head the other way, evading his gaze,

"You know why I don't _visit_ Joker." She snapped, now growing tired of his games.

"Ha hmm, yes I suppose I do. Don't worry," he cooed in a chilling droll. "Despite an awkward _eight_ months of nonstop therapy I think you'll find old Harvey to be quite unchanged. That information you need still stored safely away in his mind." A mean sneer spread across his face as he leaned over the considerably shorter woman. Selina felt a surge of fear penetrate her chest as his words registered in her mind.

"What do you mean?" She demanded sharply, trying to hide her panic. She needed that information, they couldn't have beaten it out of him.

"Oh… nothing," he said idly. "The Batman straightened everything out. You have nothing to worry about _pussy_."

His yellow eyes finally locked with her green ones as he reached out to touch her with a white, grubby hand.

"Have I ever told you what a pretty _pussy_ you are?" He asked with a wicked smile.

Selina rolled her eyes and roughly pushed past the leering clown knowing that he was just trying to get under her skin. The Joker laughed madly at her reaction as she stormed off. Wiping a tear from his eye he hollered out with amusement,

"Women these days!"

His words and continual howling followed her throughout the house as it echoed off the dilapidated walls. She was nowhere closer to finding Harvey Dent and according to what the Joker had told her the prospects of finding him in good mental health were slim.

As she made her way down the halls anxiety started to set in. Her movements were progressively becoming faster and clumsier as she investigated the cells she came across. What she found made her want to wretch. Every chamber was occupied by sickly and malnourished inmates who wandered around their chambers in a demented stupor. All of them looked like rotting corpses and smelled of vomit. She had searched two long hallways and Harvey was nowhere to be found. All she wanted to do now was get to him then get out.

Climbing the narrow stairway in front of her, Selina ascended to the second floor. The brass railing was cold on her hand as she used it as leverage to pull herself up the stairs faster. Finally at the top she stopped and looked around. This floor seemed to stretch on longer than the last. The high ceiling and burrowing darkness down the elongated hall was almost daunting.

She felt filthy touching the walls and doors of this house. Her skin grew hot and sticky from the murky humidity that was caused by the radiation of body heat from all of the patients. Entering cell upon cell her thoughts became foggy and warped as if she was going to faint. All she could think about was the different ways she could be trapped in this asylum; left to rot forever within its stinking, breathing walls.

As she rounded the corner to enter the west end of the house, the cell blocks became very different. It was clear that she had entered the high security ward. The narrow doors were made of heavy glass and the walls were lined with thick iron. All of the doors were locked in the open position, every cell appeared to be empty under the blinding florescent lighting. This was by far the brightest block in the asylum. Selina stopped and peeked her head into one of the cells. Her eyes widened in terror as she quickly pushed herself away from the door. The pace of her heart heightened tenfold as she tightly shut her eyes to wash out the images of what she had just seen. Regaining her senses Selina turned back into the doorway there she was met with the sight of thick, drying blood scrolled in elaborate cursive all over the walls. The intricate work clearly must have been done that night because the human ink seemed to be relatively wet. She slowly found herself walking into the small room; her mind was flanked with morbid curiosity and amazement. Her assumptions of when the work was completed was confirmed when she caught sight of a dead body crumpled up in the corner closest to the door. It was a security guard who had had his throat violently slit to the bone. Her large eyes scanned the well practiced calligraphies. Each careful step of her boot clad feet sounded throughout the room in a delicate echoing click. Every breath she took got caught in her throat and uneasily made its way down to her now cold chest. Each patch of blood-script on the wall was a selection from a poem or a riddle ranging from childishly easy to infinitely complex.

"We are as splendid as the beasts we…", "If I have three gallons of water, my friend has five, and there's an empty four gallon jug…", "How many does it take to…", "The World does not End with a bang, it Dies with a whimper.", "Dew whitens the jade stairs. This late, it soaks her gauze stockings…", "He lowers the crystal blind to watch…", "If our minds are made of sin, our hearts surely are…", "What do you call a…", "Breaking glass, clear moon of Autumn…", "If I had…", "there are…", "How many…", "???"

Casting her gaze downwards she noticed that the bed sheets were gruesomely decorated with question marks. Each were the same size and shape, creating a masterful pattern that seemed like something only a machine could replicate. Salina felt her whole body seizing up with uneasiness as she stared at the sickly crafted living quarters.

"Do you like it?" A masculine voice whispered softly in her ear.

Selina instinctively let out a frightened scream; one of her high heeled boots slid back an inch and hit the toe of another set of shoes. Before she had a chance to move, her arms were held behind her back in a tight grip as the assailant then roughly forced her against the opposite wall.

"Selina,"

The man whispered as he pressed himself against her. His voice came out in labored breaths as he held her tightly to the spot.

"Edward?" Selina choked out. His body was troublingly warm causing her to try and reposition herself in a way so that she wasn't touching him so much.

The scrape of his crooked aluminum cane across the floor made her wince. The cold metal came up to press painfully against her lower back so that she couldn't move. She couldn't believe that this goddamn alcoholic cripple could have her so easily pinned against a wall like this. It was a mystery how he was still standing without the damn cane. 'They don't call him the Riddler for nothing idiot,' she thought ruefully to herself.

A nervous shiver ran through her body as she felt the man suddenly rub the side of his face against her cheek as he flattened his body against hers. All she could feel was the cold wall in front of her and his heated flesh behind her. His rough stubble scratched against her mask as he dragged his lips from the corner of her mouth up to the edge of her ear. She felt him smile against her temple as he whispered,

"Correct."

"Edward," Selina said quietly, trying to hide her fear. "Please let me go."

The Riddler let out a dark chuckle.

"You're always such a tease Selina."

This made her growl angrily, "I am _not_ being a tease God damn it!"

"Oh come on Selina," he said, his voice darkening severely. "You're no different than those self serving bitches back in Cambodia. A whore's a whore my dear, hate to say it but only the scenery changes."

Selina let out an angry scream as she struggled against him as best she could.

"You bastard! You belong back in the gutter rotting with all your old veteran friends you stupid cripple. And that's no hooker's tease buddy. Now let go of me you piece of shit!"

Edward waited for her to be silent and sighed,

"Are you done?" He asked sounding bored.

"Hardly, you pervert."

"It hurts me you feel this way about me Selina. I think we need to have a talk about this. For starters let's just get ourselves a little bit more comfortable and take this mask off shall we? I haven't seen your face in well, ever. It's been far too long."

Selina could feel his sickening, lizard-like grin spread across his face as she angrily struggled against him,

"Get _off_ me!" She shouted. Edward only held onto her tighter; twisting her wrists painfully to make her stop fighting him.

"Calm _down_." He demanded sharply.

"Don't touch me you fucking asshole!" She continued.

"I said calm _down_," he gritted through clenched teeth.

Selina let out a painful cry feeling him about to snap her wrists in two and stopped struggling almost immediately.

"Good." He said, pleased that he could make her comply.

Readjusting his grip on her so that he was holding her wrists together with one hand, he used his other free hand to loosen the mask around her face. He took his time as he slipped his fingers under the vinyl and caressed her warm white skin as he lightly pulled the material away from her face. He grabbed the bottom of the mask and pulled it over her head. Edward began to stroke her hair when Selina's voice cut through the silence,

"Alright, you've had your fun, now let me go." She growled.

"One moment,"

He said loosening his grip on her and spinning her around. As he did so Selina used this chance to whip around and knee him in the ribs. Edward doubled over in pain. While he was holding his chest Selina punched him in the face and kicked him in his bad leg. The blow to the leg was all it actually took to knock him out but Selina wanted him to really feel it when he got up.

Picking up her mask Selina smoothed back her hair and gazed at the unconscious maniac at her feet.

"Hope you liked what you saw Eddie baby because you sure as hell aren't going to remember it when you get up."

Pulling her mask back over her head and slipping on her goggles, she stepped over Edward and left the cell.

She finally arrived at the end of the hall and stopped in front of a large pair of double doors. Preparing herself for what she might find, Selina took a deep breath and started to push them open. She stopped when she heard a scrapping coming from the stairway next to her.

Letting go of the door handles Selina sighed heavily and turned to the staircase to investigate the noise. She was just about fed up with this place. Her eyes locked onto a lanky figure standing at the top of the old wooden steps lamely dragging an iron pitchfork alongside him.

"Miss Kitty," the voice said wearily. "Never thought you'd see me like this did you?"

Selina took a step closer to the stairs as she gazed up at her former coworker Jonathan Crane,

"The same could be said about me. How did you figure out who I was?"

"Come on Selina, if anyone in the office was going to have a cat complex it would have to be you. But who would have thought one of Gotham's biggest socialites would be so dexterous with a lock pick?"

Selina smiled lightly as she met him halfway on the stairs. Sitting down on one of the steps she said,

"I guess it could be said that I learned my tricks of the trade in a former life."

Using his pitchfork as leverage he slowly lowered himself down on the step above her. It appeared to Selina as though he were injured.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked.

"Never better," he said through a labored breath as he tried to relax in his sitting position. "I ran into Crock in the foyer. I'm sure I don't have to elaborate on what happened."

"Not at all," she said while carefully pulling aside a ripped part of his shirt with a claw to look at a nasty scratch on the side of his stomach.

Shaking her head she let go of the fabric, "Looks almost like you got your appendix taken out."

Jonathan only shrugged, his crystal blue eyes meeting hers, "The good thing about being locked away in a hospital is all the anesthetics. Sometimes it feels good to throw a fit just so they'll give you some. Trust me I know all the tricks." He wore a grin on his face but his eyes were faraway and dark. Even when he was looking at her it was almost like he was looking through her. The wide circles under his eyes suggested that he had become something of an addict to the stuff. Selina cringed a bit after grasping the possible extent of his drug problem but made no move to criticize him. Crane's gaze then slipped down to look at her.

"The word around here is that you've changed sides on us," He said leaning his back against the wall.

She raised an eyebrow at this,

"What do you mean?"

He smirked as he gazed down at her, "That Catwoman's not just stealing anymore, she's helping people now. They're saying that you've become somewhat of a Robin Hood."

Selina draped an arm around her curled up legs as she replied,

"Robin Hood? Fat chance. I'm only helping those who don't have the means to help themselves and only on my turf."

"You mean the Palisades?" He asked with a snarky laugh.

"No you twit, the East End."

He raised an eyebrow at this; he was clearly surprised.

"I wasn't born rich John." Her eyes stared at the wall opposite them. "Since I had acquired a large sum of money over the length of my career I tried out the good life for a few years. That's when I met you. Unfortunately I got tired of it all. It wasn't half as exciting as running around on rooftops in a leather cat suit. Besides I wasn't doing what I did best, and a talent like I have should never go to waste. And let's put it this way, I've seen and lived through things that a person of my means cannot ignore. Being a self-made woman doesn't mean you pack up and forget where you came from. The East End was my home and the people who I left behind are still struggling. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't want another little girl to have to grow up the way that I did."

"I see," He replied. "Did you decide all this after Falconi dropped you two floors down that elevator shaft?"

"No, but that's when I reclaimed the mantle as Catwoman. It knocked some sense into me. I'd been retired for too long; forgot what it really was that I was missing out there."

"I know," he said pulling his pitchfork closer to him. "I can't let it go either."

"If you start peddling your Fear Gas in my East End I swear to god I will have you thrown out quicker than you can say Batman."

"Of course not Selina," he said with a grin. "Besides, what are old friends for?"

"Good." She said a bit coldly. Then as she looked at her old friend her demeanor softened. "Please take care of yourself." She said in a half whisper. It hurt her to see him like this. He was merely a shadow of the man she once knew … that Gotham once knew.

Jonathan managed a weak smile and patted her hand.

"Don't worry about me Miss. Kitty… somehow I always manage."

Selina nodded and picked herself up off the stairs.

**To Be Continued...**


End file.
